Its no secret that this blog harbors little respect for former ENRON advisor (and New York Times economic columnist) Paul Krugman. And, were it not for his vast audience whos attention he commands, this blog would otherwise ignore what he has to say… but there comes a point where such irresponsibly partisan misrepresentation must be addressed.
One of his most recent columns begins thusly:
We need to pinch pennies these days. Don’t you know we have a budget deficit? For months that has been the word from Republicans and conservative Democrats, who have rejected every suggestion that we do more to avoid deep cuts in public services and help the ailing economy.
But these same politicians are eager to cut checks averaging $3 million each to the richest 120,000 people in the country.
REALLY! Which Republicans might you be referring to, Mr. Krugman? The imaginary “fairy” Republicans that live in your imagination perhaps? Last I checked, a significant percentage of republicans voted to “cut” the 787 billion-dollar stimulus package and the 950 billion-dollar Health-care bill. Did you miss this? You couldn’t have, given the fact you criticized them for opposing the stimulus in one of your own columns back in 2009… and charged Republicans with trying to “dismantle” Medicare “with spending cuts of about $650 billion over the next decade” in your column this past February. What universe have you been living in the past few years, Mr. Krugman? Well, as James Taranto so eloquently put it… “It seems Krugman himself lives in two different universes–the universe of the academic economist and the universe of the bitter partisan columnist.”
When it comes to misrepresenting Republican positions… it seems that even your own statements to the contrary in no way influence which “facts” you choose to cite in subsequent columns. In other words, when it comes to “facts” you choose to cite in any given column… you a prone to make them up as you go.
You continue with your column by positing that the reason bush’s tax cuts were designed with an expiration date was because Republicans were trying to “disguise the fiscal irresponsibility of the tax cuts”. Funny, I thought the expiration was part of the compromise – supported by many democrats then and now – that allowed the legislation to get passed.
The irony here, of course, is that Krugman simultaneously rejects the thought of letting the rich spend money they’ve earned… while advocating for massive government debt to finance “stimulus”. He laments the “dishonesty” of the Bush administration’s tax policies while saying with a straight face that massive debt burdens “create wealth”.
Mr. Krugman… try reading your own columns next time… you might find their contents surprising.
via Op-Ed Columnist – Bush Tax Cuts – Now That’s Rich – NYTimes.com.